Move on after post-election unrest, Zimbabweans told

Written by Reuters -

14th Aug 2018

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabweans should now unite to rebuild the economy and put behind them the election period that saw six people being killed after the army stepped in to quell post-election protests.

In his first national address since being declared winner in a disputed presidential vote, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe showed the world it could hold a free and peaceful vote but blamed the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for violence that followed.
“It is now time to put the election period behind us and embrace the future,” Mnangagwa said during Heroes Day commemorations in Harare.
“We should never be deterred by temporary setbacks or regrettable events in our cause to build an open, free and democratic, prosperous Zimbabwe.”

The July 30 election, the first since Robert Mugabe was forced to resign, was cast as a watershed vote that could pull a pariah state back into the international fold and spark economic revival.

Violence erupted after Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party won the national elections and the heavy-handed army response was another reminder Zimbabwean society remains divided after Mugabe’s near four decades of rule.

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, Mnangagwa’s main rival who challenged the election result at the Constitutional Court, said in a message to mark Heroes Day Zimbabwe was a broken and divided nation needing healing and reconciliation.

The vote, he said, was “scandalous”.
“We must resolutely do everything in our power under our constitution to say ‘No’ to fraud and repression either in our electoral politics or justice system,” Chamisa said.